Sixty-seven

We eat our fill, until I can barely breathe" You're going to have to roll me out of here," I say with mild amusement to which Gerald chuckles, while I pet my overstuffed belly, the same way pregnant women pet their stomachs when they try to soothe the growing bump.

" You're not round enough to be rolled but I'd happily drag you like an old carpet," He quips, and we both laugh. For a moment I forget the deep shit we are in, but the little light that pierces through the clouds quickly fades at the memory of what I might find once we arrive in Morston. One thing is for sure, Gerald needs to leave the moment I leave the car. Getting him dragged into this as well, is a risk, I am not willing to take.

Noticing my mood change, Gerald sighs and empties his coffee, before standing up and offering me a hand," We should go," He says as he pulls me up, the shirt I'm wearing stretching around my stomach, makes him smile.

" You look like a snake that's eaten a meal bigger than he is," He smirks at me, while I pat my satisfied stomach, grinning from ear to ear. At least I got overeating down to a t.

We say goodbye to the man behind the counter, and we return to the car with Gerald in the driver's seat.

I give him a questioning look, and he shrugs," You drive like a maniac. I've never prayed as much as I prayed when you were behind the wheel. Slow and steady wins the race," He quips as the engine hums to life and we pull back onto the road. There are few more cars now, and Geralds's wish comes true. We go steady, really steady and slow.

" Is this slow enough for you?" I huff, annoyed that we are moving at about twenty miles per hour. He laughs at me while I do a quick check to see how my power stores are doing since I'm feeling much better. I might not need him to drive to Morston if I can muster enough strength to create a pocket, and from there carve a path to the academy.

It's risky, but it's a risk I'm willing to take. The poison is losing its edge on me, and I'm feeling increasingly better by the minute.

" The traffic will thin out as soon as we are out of this portion of the road, " He reassures me calmly. Strangely, Mason never mentioned him, but then again you'd have to torture Mason, to get any kind of information out of him. He shields the ones that he loves and cares for them more fiercely than I would have ever imagined.

Silence settles in the car while I focus on absorbing all that I can from around me. It takes a good few hours before I manage to centre myself and to feel the steady flow.

Eric's words flood my mind from when we used to train under his watchful eye. " Focus inwards not outwards," He stressed every single word, the edge of his voice so sharp that I could feel it slicing through my confidence.

He wasn't wrong, but I guess his forceful way of teaching has been passed from father to son. It took me a while to figure out why he felt such an aggressive aversion towards Zareen. Peter, his father put that place above all else, hence why he hated Zareen so much.

Peter cherished more an inanimate building than his family. That must've cut deep.

My patience slowly and surely begins to fray, as the car moves at a snail's pace. Once I've gathered enough to create the pocket, I look at Gerald whose eyes are focused on the road ahead of him, and decide that it is time for us to say goodbye.

" It was nice meeting you Gerald. Send Sophie my best wishes, and I hope that we will meet again," For a moment he looks confused at my words but it doesn't take him long to figure out what is happening.

" Thank you for your help and kindness. Be well, my friend," Just as he opens his mouth I slip into the small pocket I've created. It's smaller than anything I've made up until this point. Nothing as lush, and richly coloured.

It's very grey, and it's a testament to how low my powers are. It will take time to replenish, but I can't wait any longer. The wait is killing me.

With great effort, I create the exit at the other end and slip out of the pocket, only to find myself in the middle of a field, not far from the road I just left behind.

" Bollocks," I shout and look around to see if I can find Geralds's car. I do find it somewhere a few hundred feet from the road still slowly moving with the traffic.

I've exhausted the little power I've managed to wrangle, and now my stores are dried up. It will take some time to build them up again.

Huffing, I stomp the ground like an enraged bull as I make my way towards the road, and Gerald.

He doesn't notice me at first, but I can tell by the way he looks around that he is looking for a way to turn around and go back home.

After a good twenty minutes of walking through the dewy grass, I reach the car and tap on his window as the car comes to a halt because the column has stopped moving completely.

He looks at me for a good second and then smirks. Rolling down the window, he props an elbow out," Hello there, my fair lady. Are you in need of rescuing? I'm no knight, I don't have shiny armour or a black steed, " He taps the steering wheel, " But this is ten times better," I roll my eyes as I round the car and walk to the passenger side with a huff.

Yanking the car door open, I plop myself in the seat, just as Gerald puts the car in drive, " So," He drawls lazily," What brings you to this part of the woods?" He quips, and I want to slap him silly. I'm in no mood for jokes.

I can hear the laughter in his smile, while I focus my gaze ahead, and glare hard enough to melt the windscreen.

" Oh, shut it," I snap and he begins to laugh raucously.